Most of us want to know the Bible better, and if that’s you this page is for you.
If you want a daily reminder and help understanding or applying what you read in the Bible there are a number of options, such as:
- the Bible in One Year – created by Nicky Gumbel and part of Alpha International. It has its own website here. It has a phone app if you want it, or you can receive daily emails, and there are three options: Classic, Youth and Express.
- YouVersion: this has an app which allows you to read the Bible, receive a verse of the day and follow a reading plan of your choice (including the Bible in One Year). I didn’t look at all the available reading plans but there seem to be wide variety of them.
- Lectio 365: this is a phone app which leads you through morning and evening prayers and Bible readings. The morning prayers help you to pray the Bible and the night prayers help you to process the day and prepare to sleep. Lectio 365 is produced but the 24-7 Prayer movement (started by Pete Grieg and I think the app uses Pete’s voice).
- Through the Word: this is a new phone app which has daily Bible readings and explanations of the Bible text. It offers sets of readings on individual books in the Bible, themes and going through the Old or New Testament in a year. I haven’t tried this, but it seems good based on my very brief try out.
- Paper Bible Reading Plan: if you want to read the Bible without using technology (apart from a printer!) to read the whole Bible or just the New Testament in 2023 there is a reading plan here which you can print out and keep in your Bible. It’s a five day a week plan where you’ll read a few chapters a day (if you plan to read the whole Bible) or just one chapter (if you want to read the New Testament). You can use the weekends to catch up if you miss a day or two, or you can reread the some chapters or read other parts of the Bible. If you get behind, don’t worry – just start again at the current date in the plan. If you can’t print it yourself just ask me, Andrew Cunningham, for a paper copy.
The phone/tablet apps generally have a lot of helpful features such as:
- a choice of the Bible translation to use
- reading the Bible for you
- daily reminders
- keeping track of what you’re covered
- leading you through the prayer or reflection
- explanations of the Bible text
- someone reading the Bible and leading you through the prayer
Also, if you try out any of the above methods of reading the Bible more, please let me know how you get on so I can update this page based on your experience. You can contact me, Andrew Cunningham, by email at andrew@cardigan.church.